Light to a Dark World
by TheDarkCanTell
Summary: A collection of one-shot stories for all the fellow Mikaeretic Maniacs out there! Something to relieve the tension from the never ending battle and turmoil that pervades their world...
1. Playing House

**Disclaimer: Though TheDarkCanTell tales of Shingeki no Kyojin, the author certainly doesn't own it.**

**A/N: Hey everyone! It appears TheDarkCanTell a second tale! This one's gonna be a collection of random ideas and is in tribute to two of my role models on this site; the inimitable ****'songs'**** and her majesty the ****'HighQueen'****. Together these two amazing writers have taught me the immense (and liberating) pleasure that lies in a story devoid of any major plot but hinged on prompts and spontaneity and a Mikaeretic heart! **** I feel it is only my duty to attempt to give you a sliver of what they gave me; hours of happiness as I pored through their masterpieces over and over again! I hope this does the trick.**

**Please read and review! Note, my decision to continue this depends on if I know TheDarkCanTell it well, and only your reviews can tell me that. Feel free to PM me as well with prompts and stuff. I'll be needing them.**

**Finally, check out my other ongoing multi-chapter tale, 'For Freedom, For Family'. It's a blast, if I may say so myself ;)**

**So, for Tale 1…**

**Timeframe: Sometime during training at boot camp, under the merciless thumb of Keith Shardis. I like to think it's canon, but that's just me!**

**Pairing: MikaEren**

**Summary: It's Career Day for the cadets of the 104****th**** training unit, which means they get to go to the capital and for a day (maybe more) get a glimpse of what life as a military police could be like. The objective is to motivate the budding warriors to do their best during training so that they could earn their way into a life of peace and security, deep where the fear of titans is nothing but a distant memory (mental image of Jean drooling at the prospect flashes, hehe!)**

**To make the experience more authentic, the cadets are assigned in pairs to different tasks. Nothing much, just a little here and there to help while away the time as they enjoy the rare pleasures of the luxurious capital. Naturally our two star-crossed lovers end up on the same team, where they will find themselves…**

**PLAYING HOUSE**

"Here, Eren; your turn now."

"No way!" Came the irritable reply.

"Don't worry, I just changed her diapers, so she'll be 'good' for at least the next 30 minutes."

Eren eyed the wriggling bundle in Mikasa's outstretched arms like it was a pint-sized titan and wrinkled his nose.

"Keep dreaming!"

"You can't expect me to carry her the whole day by myself."

"Then put her back in her crib, for fuck's sake! That's where we found her, right?!"

"If I put her down she'll just start crying again like the last time. She needs to be carried, at least until she falls asleep," Mikasa explained. "She's restless and wants to play."

"Do I look like some sort of giant teddy bear to you?! Besides, isn't that what that rattle thingy's there for?"

Mikasa sighed. "Eren, this is supposed to be a cooperative mission."

He snorted. Some _mission_. He couldn't believe she could even apply the word 'mission' to something as absurd as this with such a straight face.

"Please Eren, I'm getting tired."

"Your problem, not mine."

"_Eren!_"

"I said no!"

Eren considered himself the resident authority when it came to Mikasa, besides perhaps Armin, who didn't count because he was imbued with a natural proclivity for intuition. He took great pride in being able to easily anticipate her reactions. The trick, he had realized, was all in carefully watching her eyes.

Like now, for instance.

She didn't scowl or anything. Her face remained as impassive as always, but something in her grey eyes told him she was about steamroll over his protests and do something he wouldn't like. Like maybe shoving the little runt into his hands. He hurriedly stepped back out of reach just in time, thwarting her, and smirked in satisfaction as a tiny frown or frustration momentarily creased her brow.

Ignoring her exasperated sigh Eren walked over to an armchair a safe distance away and flopped into it. Since when had babysitting become a mission? It was bad enough that as per tradition they'd all had to come to the capital on Career Day, all in the name of inspiring them to work hard enough to be among the top 10 and earn a place in the _elite_ Military Police force.

Now he and Mikasa had gotten saddled with the '_immense honor_' of babysitting the brat of one of the city's '_most upstanding citizens_'. Citizens who had promptly dumped their bundle of joy into Mikasa's arms, along with a 5 paged list of do's and don'ts, and gone out to attend to '_matters of_ _paramount stately importance_', which Eren strongly suspected was a euphemism for 'partying hard all day at some snobbish event'.

He couldn't suppress a long, shuddering yawn that wracked his whole frame. He was ready to expire from boredom. At this point he would gladly have been charged with any other task, even filling in as the town clerk's understudy at the town hall alongside Armin and Krista or mucking out the royal stables with Connie and Sasha. Anything else would be better than this. Give him psychopathic titans any day, please!

For the millionth time he wondered what Jean and Marco could possibly see in the military police. Or at least Marco. Horse-face Jean, he knew, was nothing more than a shameless craven opportunist intent on ensconcing himself in a place he deemed safe from titans. Like cooped up frightened livestock scurrying to the center of the cage when the butcher showed up, Eren thought with ever growing disdain.

Marco, on the other hand, he couldn't get. The guy seemed to genuinely love the idea of becoming one. It had been obvious in the way his eyes had shimmered when captain Keith Shardis had announced earlier that day that the 104th squad would be taking the traditional Career Day trip to the capital. For a moment he had been certain the tall boy was going to swoon at the prospect of being face to face with his lifelong ambition.

Eren shook his head in amazement. Whatever the case, it was clear that he was the worst possible person for the job, especially if it consisted of writing for hours on end, cleaning out after horses and – gasp – watching over some drooling, bawling brat while its parents were out having the time of their lives.

The only person he could think of who was probably more unsuited than him for the task was Mikasa. She had always been freakishly strong, he thought with a familiar tinge of envy, and had already shown great promise of becoming one of the 'glorious walls to protect the walls' captain Keith Shardis had been going on about during his 'welcoming' speech. Presently he lifted his reclined head and craned his neck to see how she was coping.

Mikasa was cradling the baby in her arms like it was made of porcelain. It stared up at her, its big unblinking blue eyes filled with wonder. She cooed gently and was rewarded by its bubbly laugh and the chubby hands that shot up to tug at her hair. She turned her head to the side, catching its fingers gently between her lips, and the baby's eyes once more crinkled in infantile mirth. Then it cooed back and this time she was the one to laugh.

She had always loved babies, even as a child. From as far back as she could remember they had fascinated her more than anything else and they still did. Except Eren perhaps, she thought with a faint blush. She remembered impulsively asking her mother how they were made, on _that_ day. A faint smile stole its way to her lips as she remembered how her father had sputtered incoherently when her mother diverted the innocent question towards him. Now she clearly knew the reason behind his flustered response.

The baby cooed once again and she felt a pang of longing in her heart. She wanted to have one of her own some day. Boy or girl it wouldn't matter, but she supposed she would prefer a boy. As the first child, at least. A little boy with dark hair and bright emerald green eyes. Her blush deepened and she smiled again to herself, inordinately glad that Eren couldn't read her thoughts.

Eren stared at Mikasa, dumbfounded. The normally impassive girl he called his family had disappeared, leaving in her wake a young woman with rosy cheeks and a gentle smile on her face, the picture of perfect bliss. As he watched her something unfamiliar stirred in him, something exceedingly tender that made his chest swell. Just then Mikasa lifted her gaze from the baby and their eyes met. Immediately Eren looked away, blushing furiously.

Mikasa was just as taken aback by what she saw as he had been. The tender look in his eyes as he watched was one she had seldom, if ever, seen before. It reminded her that despite their seemingly incessant bickering, Eren was the one person who had always understood her more than anybody else.

He was the one with whom she could comfortably share her deepest thoughts and secrets, as she had often done when they lay in the meadows and in the obscurity of their room after his mother had tucked them into bed and blown out the candle. Not that they had done any sharing in a while, though. Too long, if truth be told. She took a deep breath.

"Eren?"

"Hm?"

"Would you like to have a baby?"

"_What?!_"

He shot up into an upright position in the chair and stared at her, incredulous.

"N-no!" She said quickly, turning bright red. "I don't – mean right now or – or with…"

Her words trickled off into incoherence as she turned redder and redder.

"Oh… right," he said, blushing as well. He lay back in the armchair, his legs dangling over one of the arms.

A brief silence, then: "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Well would you? Like to have a child _someday_, I mean?"

"What kind of question is _that_?! And what's with all this baby talk, all of a sudden?"

"Never mind," she said, hoping her disappointment didn't reflect in her voice. Another failed attempt at bringing back the past with Eren, she noted mentally.

Eren sighed.

"I suppose I would. _Someday_, perhaps. When the time is right."

She wanted to ask him when he thought that would be but she already knew the answer. When he had finished his herculean mission of taking down all the titans in the world. And finished exploring the world beyond the walls. And found a girl he was interested in and wanted to settle down with. Maybe a certain blonde with heavy lidded blue eyes and a weird obsession with kicking people. The thought filled her with an unwelcome sense of loss. The baby gurgled, distracting her from her wistful musings.

"Which would you prefer first, boy or girl?"

"How on earth am I supposed to know a thing like _that_?!" He snapped, as startled by the sudden question as by the breathiness of her voice. "I'm a guy, remember? We don't think of that stuff."

"Armin would know."

"That's Armin," he retorted, turning his face into the armchair. "He knows _everything_."

Just then the baby became more restless in its fidgeting. Mikasa rocked it gently and cooed some more, to no avail. She quickly checked its diaper. Nothing. She sighed.

"The baby's hungry."

"So?" Eren asked carelessly, his voice slightly muffled as he spoke into the chair.

She willed herself to remain calm. "So I need to go to the grocery store to buy stuff for making the broth cited in the list."

"Oh," he said, but didn't budge.

Several seconds ticked past, then minutes. Mikasa's patience, already worn thin, snapped. Unfortunately for Eren, she considered herself the resident authority on everything Eren-related as well. Except maybe Armin, who didn't count because of his natural intuitiveness. She nudged a glass off a nearby table and it fell to the wooden floor, shattering noisily. At once Eren sprang off the chair.

"What was that?!" He demanded.

"I think I hurt myself," she said weakly, clutching at her ankle with her free arm.

In a flash he was at her side. "What?! Where? Hey-!"

"There!" She said, leaping nimbly back before he could push back the baby she had just shoved into his arms. "Now be sure to check her diaper every fifteen minutes to thirty minutes, okay? And don't forget to play with her."

The baby whimpered with displeasure at the sudden turn of events. So did Eren.

"H-hey Mikasa!" He sputtered with a rising sense of panic. "Where do you think you're going?! Don't you dare leave me alone with this… I don't know what on earth I'm supposed to do!"

She turned round in the doorway. "You can start by holding her correctly. Use the crook of both your arms to cradle her and always keep her head higher than her feet."

"_What_?!"

The baby began to bawl in earnest and Eren yelled for her. Mikasa shut the door behind her, muting the ruckus from within. Then with a deep breath and a relieved smile, she stepped out into the sunbathed street.

* * *

Mikasa paused momentarily on the threshold of the lush cottage upon her return hours later, lowering two grocery bags full to bursting to the floor. The shopping had taken her much longer than expected, owing to the rarity of some of the items on the list. She'd had to go to down several blocks to purchase some of them. Damned rich people and their exotic tastes, she thought irritably as she reached for the door knob.

And then she heard it. a soft voice speaking. It couldn't be – yet it was… _Eren's_?! She hurried over to the window and peered in. He was on his feet, his back to her and he was rocking the baby gently in his arms as he spoke softly to it. She couldn't make out the words, though, but they seemed to be doing the trick because the baby was no longer crying. Her heart melted at the sight. She watched them for a while longer then went to the door and gently pried it open.

"Hi," she whispered.

"Shh!" Eren hissed at once, winking at her.

She nodded silently, her inner butterflies taking off once again. He settled into the armchair and continued crooning to the baby. She quietly reclaimed her grocery bags and tiptoed into the kitchen where she put the purchase away. She knew she ought to start making the broth right away, in case the baby was hungry, but she couldn't resist. She simply had to see him at it again.

She cracked open the kitchen door an inched and spied. He was talking softly to the baby again. She opened the door a little wider for better hearing. He appeared to be telling her a story, much like Armin had done for them when they were kids. His story, however, was nothing like the prince-and-princess laden fairy tales Armin used to regal them with.

"– and the brave legionnaire shot forth with a timely burst of steam from his 3DMG, pivoted round the giant tree towards the Colossal Titan's neck and with an almighty roar sliced off a really thick chunk of flesh, fatally wounding it. Filthy titan-blood splattered everywhere–"

Mikasa was torn between the urge to laugh or smack some sense into him. She opted for neither and moved forward to perch on the arm of the chair, listening fondly as he relayed his gory idea of a bedtime story to the baby. That aside, he would make a great father someday.

"– and when the legionnaire lifted his weary eyes he saw that it was over. Thanks to him the titans were all slain. Thanks to him the walls that had held humanity captive for so long could finally come down. Thanks to him, they could reclaim the world that was their birthright. The End. So,did you like it, my little sweetheart?"

Mikasa's heart leapt at the endearment, so unusual coming from him and yet so _right_. But of course it was meant for the baby, she reminded herself. The baby frothed sleepily, its eyes slowly shutting. The three of them sat in companionable silence. This was what she had always wanted, Mikasa couldn't help thinking. This was how it should be. The perfect little family. Eren, Mikasa and a baby.

"A girl," Eren suddenly said, breaking the silence and interrupting her wishful thinking.

She blinked down at him. "What?"

"That's in answer to your earlier question," he said softly, still looking down at the baby nestled in his arms.

"…Oh."

"Of course I'll have to purge this world of titans first," he continued. "There's enough suffering and misery going on in it without bringing an innocent child in to experience it all, see?"

"Mhm."

"Plus no child of mine will grow cooped up like an animal awaiting slaughter."

"…mhm."

"But once I'm done, once it's all over, I wanna have a child. Children. The first would be a girl, though."

His voice was low, almost dreamy. He appeared to be lost in thought as he spoke, almost like he was thinking aloud.

"Of course any kid would do, but I'd really like for it to be a girl. She'll need to keep her kid brothers and sisters in check, so she'll have to be strong and yet kind, gentle but firm, just like you. And she'll have your lovely dark hair and your amazingly beautiful grey eyes and –"

Eren paused in midsentence, suddenly aware of what he was saying, and to _whom_ he was saying it. He glanced up quickly, praying she like the child in his arms had been lulled to sleep. Not a chance. She was wide awake, the grey eyes he had just commented about wide open in disbelief. Disbelief and something else he couldn't quite identify. Their faces, mere inches apart, reddened simultaneously.

He leapt to his feet and she immediately followed suit.

"I-I-I'll put her away in her crib now!" He practically screamed and the baby twitched in its sleep.

"A-and I'll m-make her something t-to eat," Mikasa stuttered in response.

They shot each other a last embarrassed glance before speeding off to their respective tasks, Eren mortified beyond words and inwardly cursing Career Day, Mikasa with an indescribably warm feeling fueling her fiercely racing heart.

**A/N: So? What do you guys think? Please review or PM and let me know. The continuity of this trend depends on it.**


	2. The Road to Hell (1)

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin**

**Ahhh… looks like I'm going to continue this, after all! Thanks for all your touching comments! It's what gave me the strength to continue after my laptop went haywire and somehow lost lots of information, this one included! After trying and failing to recover it, I was forced to write it all over again as fast as I could while I could still remember how I had written it the first time. I really hate when that happens because then you're caught in the trap of trying to reproduce the exact same thing and can never quite succeed. I know I didn't :(**

**Anyway, here goes…**

**Timeframe: At boot camp. **_**Again**_**. Coz I find that it's one of the few slots where one can insert EreMika stories that kinda look canon.**

**Prompt: This goes down about a week after the events of anime episode 3 and will be the first in a miniseries of unrelated Oneshots titled 'The Road To Hell'.**

**Why, you ask? Because it comes, as far as TheDarkCanTell, from the saying; the road to hell is paved with good intentions**

**And that's what this story is about. Noble motives that take a rather unexpected turn. Isn't that what life is sometimes about? Expecting the unexpected? You put in your best effort and hope for the best but in the end nobody really knows the outcome (I think that was Levi's sober line to a devastated Eren after Annie's rampage. Or before, only it resurfaced after, I think?)**

**The Road to Hell… (1)**

To Mikasa, watching Eren was a second nature. It had started out as habit she cultivated to buffer his knack for getting into trouble and since Carla's death had blown out into a full scale job. Like a mother hen with its chicks, she always kept a watchful eye over Eren, no matter what she was doing at the time. So it was no surprise that she was the first to notice the tear to his sleeve or the nasty gash that glared out from underneath.

"Eren jeager… Pass!" Instructor Keith Shardis declared in his booming no nonsense voice, and the members of the 104th squad burst into jubilation.

"Yeah! Way to go, Eren!" Armin cheered ecstatically.

"Sweet!" Connie whooped, fist pumping the air in a burst of enthusiasm.

"True that," Reiner agreed and Bertholdt smiled.

The instructor turned on them, his pale staring eyes glaring out of their cavernous sockets. "One more sound and the lot of you'll be swallowing teeth for dinner, you little pig shits," He growled. "Save the party for when one of you actually kills a titan! Now where's that little runt, Annie Leonhardt? You're up next!"

Eren bypassed the blonde girl, not quite able to wipe the big ass grin off his face or remove the saunter from his step as he returned. Ever since that nasty episode with the faulty equipment he had trained tirelessly, determined to never again be the last to complete an activity. Or lag behind the likes of Jean Kirchstein or Connie Springer for that matter, he thought distastefully, recalling the sting of their jeering.

And now all that feverish training had finally paid off. Today they were having their first actual practical lesson on how to slay titans and several two dimensional dummies of varying sizes and with targets fixed to their napes had been erected for the occasion. It was an exercise that required the mastery of multiple skills; precision, speed, sense of orientation, physical and mental strength, swordsmanship and 3 D maneuvering skills. In other words it was going to prove to be their most arduous task yet.

Which only made Eren's accomplishment all the more savory. On his first try Eren had successfully sliced off a chunk of the surprisingly tough target, a feat which up until now had only been accomplished by Mikasa, Reiner and Bertholdt. And soon by Annie too, he thought as he watched her slouch forward like each step took superhuman effort. Her slacker demeanor was an act which belied her true skill. The girl was a beast. Suddenly Mikasa was standing before him, a familiar accusing stare in her eyes.

"What now?" He sighed.

"You've wounded yourself," she pointed out in her quiet breathy voice.

"What –? Where?"

He examined himself and soon spotted it. It was a nasty looking cut just above his right elbow. It must have been deep because it was bleeding profusely and, now that he nad noticed its precence, had begun to sting horribly.

"It's nothing", he lied shortly, clamping his left hand over the wound to hield it from her eyes.

He wasn't at all surprised when she matter-of-factly grabbed his arm and peeled off the fingers to closely inspect the damage for herself.

"No it's not," she declared. "It's too deep. You must go to the infirmary."

"I'll be fine," he snapped under his breath with a pointed look at Keith Shardis, who thankfully was too busy walking an insolently disinterested looking Annie through the steps to notice.

The last thing he wanted right now was to get into trouble with the instructor because of her nagging, especially after the adulations he had just received for his stellar performance. And he had no intentions of going to the infirmary either. It would be his second time there in two weeks, the first being when he had received a concussion thanks to that broken equipment, and in his opinion that would be two times too many. The thought of once again facing the looks of pity and mockery was more than he could stand.

Mikasa, on the other hand, couldn't care less about what anyone thought, Keith Shardis included. If she remained obedient it was simply because she was dutiful and not because she was scared. She had absolutely no qualms about getting on to Keith Shardis' wrong side, or anyone else's for that matter, if she deemed the juice worth the squeeze.

"No you won't. A wound like that is sure to get infected if not cleaned and sealed quickly. You know what your father would have–"

She faltered briefly at the stony look on his face. Although he would never admit it, she knew all too well that Dr. Jeager's increasingly erratic behavior and eventual sudden disappearance after his wife's death had taken a heavy toll on Eren. She and Armin had come to the unspoken agreement not to bring his name up unless absolutely necessary.

"You have to go to the infirmary," she repeated. "I can accompany you if you want."

Eren stared at her. What in the world was her problem? Why was she so determined to rob him of this moment of glory and embarrass him in front of everybody?

"I said no. I'm not going." He said slowly, deliberately drenching each word with defiance.

She recognized that mutinous look. It was Eren at his worst. At this point mere words were not enough to sway him. Stronger measures were required. He seemed to have read her mind because he opened his legs a little more and planted them firmly, bracing himself for an impending onslaught. But he had misread her intent.

"Sir," she called out, "I wish to make a request, please."

"H-hey! What the fuck do you think you are doing?!" Eren whispered furiously. "Don't-"

But it was already too late. Keith Shardis was presently scowling over his shoulder, his displeasure at being interrupted evident. The whole field too was paying attention.

"Well spit it out Ackerman and this had better be good!"

"Eren Jeager has received a serious injury to his arm and won't be able to finish the day's training with it."

Keith Shardis blinked then looked at Eren. "That true, Jeager?!"

"No sir!" Eren vehemently denied. "I can finish-"

"No he can't, sir," Mikasa deadpanned immediately. "The cut is bleeding profusely and needs to be stitched up as soon as possible."

Eren rounded on her, livid. "_What the hell's your problem_?!"

Keith Shardis mentally rolled his eyes as Eren let loose a stream of profanity that could burn the ears off a donkey and make even _him_ blush. The mouth on Grisha's brat! Where did they get these recruits from?! They seemed to get bolder with each passing year! While it was nice to see brats with some actual mettle for a change, insubordination was something he couldn't stand for. Time to break it up.

"Any more of that and I'll give you a better reason to go to the infirmary, Jeager, you hear me?!" He roared and Eren fell silent but continued to glare daggers at Mikasa. "It's settled. Jeager that looks like quite the gusher, so you're going to have it checked out and that's that! Ackerman, you take him."

"Yes sir!"

There they were. He could hear them clearly. The snickers he'd so wanted to avoid. They followed him as he left the field.

_Bitch,_ was the singular thought on Eren's mind as he stormed away.

* * *

"Eren, how's your arm?"

Eren resolutely ignored her like he had been doing all lunch and continued to eat. 'He's fine,' Armin silently mouthed with a compassionate smile. Mikasa nodded and thought for a while, then:

"Would you like me to help you sew your shirt?"

"If I refuse you're going to tell on me again?" He snapped.

"Eren!" Armin scolded.

"I'm done here," Eren suddenly said, pushing back his half finished plate of food and rising to leave.

He knew it was her way of apologizing for the embarrassment of earlier but right now he was in no mood to indulge her. Even if he did indeed feel better after the nurse's ministrations.

Together Armin and Mikasa watched him depart.

"He'll come around," Armin said confidently. "He always does."

Again Mikasa nodded, still looking pensive.

* * *

(One week later)

Eren peeled off his clothes and after hanging them haphazardly on the rack proceeded to slip into one of the bathing stalls in the boys' bathroom. Drawing the curtain behind him closed he turned on the shower, lathered himself generously with soap and after a moment's hesitation finally plucked up the courage to step in, bracing himself for the impact. He had to bite back a gasp as the icy cold water hit him like a myriad of blows and began to scrub away furiously.

Within moments the shower had become refreshing and his scrubbing became gentler. He always loved these midnight baths after an extracurricular training session 3D maneuvering. He could tell his skills had greatly improved. At this rate he would soon be able to deliver those exceptionally deep gashes that Mikasa was fast becoming famous for.

As he rinsed himself his thoughts strayed to her. They were both on good terms again and had even lapsed into another of their perpetual arguments. This time it was about the tear in his shirt; she kept offering to stitch it up and he kept refusing, something he did on purpose because he knew it drove her crazy to see him walking around with it and not be able to do a damn thing about infuriate her further he had even widened it a little despite the chilly autumn air.

_Choke on that, Miss-I-must-always-have-my-way_, he thought with childish glee.

The door of the boys' bathroom creaked slowly open but nobody came in. After a while a figure crept in from the darkness outside. Mikasa listened to the sound of the running shower for a while, suddenly exceptionally aware that beyond the flimsy curtain a few feet away Eren was stark naked. It was ridiculous that she was thinking of such a thing at a time like this. Hadn't she seen him countless times clad in nothing but a towel?

But that now seemed like ages ago. And he would look different now. The soft boy skin would have tautened into hard masculine flesh, if his forearms were anything to go by. There would be a network of wiry muscles in all the right places; his chest, his arms, his legs, his abdomen…

Mikasa felt her face heat up at the almost image of Eren's nudity and mentally shook herself. She had come here with a task in mind and had scant time left in which to complete it. Spotting his clothes on the rack, she silently crossed the bathroom and grabbed his shirt. It was slightly damp, from his nightly exertions no doubt, and impulsively she brought it to her nose. It smelt like Eren always did, she realized with a pang of nostalgia. And yet something was different. There was a muskiness to the familiar scent that rendered it somewhat unfamiliar. Unfamiliar and intriguing.

Reminding herself of her purpose here she whipped out her needle and thread and got to work. What a relief it was to sew up the tear. It had been on her mind all week, driving her crazy to see him walking around looking like a street urchin. What would his mother have thought? And the tear had only kept getting wider. She knew he had left it on purpose and wondered how he would react when he came and found it fixed. He'd probably let loose another tantrum, knowing him. And was just the best scenario. Worst case, he'd rip the whole sleeve off. And _then_ throw a tantrum.

Her movements were deft, practiced and within moments she had finished. She went back to the rack to replace the shirt but couldn't resist the urge to take a second whiff at it. The unfamiliar slightly musky smell was still there. It was distinct but not overwhelming, and now that she thought of it, there was something decidedly masculine to it. She mentally registered this as the new Eren scent and decided she liked it. It had a strange compelling effect on her.

She was so engrossed in the shirt that she didn't notice that the shower had stopped flowing. It was only when the curtain was drawn back that she came to her senses but by then it was already too late to do anything but look up. And there before her stood Eren, stark naked and as toned as she had imagined. She stared at him, dumbstruck. And then her eyes, suddenly animated by a will of their own, darted lower.

Eren on his own part was no less confused. He had been thinking of Mikasa as he finished his shower and pulled back the curtain, only to for her to manifest before him, here in the boy's bathroom, clad only in a flimsy nightgown that he couldn't remember having ever seen before and clutching _his shirt_ to her face.

* * *

(The next morning)

"Morning, Mikasa!" Armin piped chirpily.

"Hey Armin," she breathed.

Armin eyed her curiously. She sounded oddly breathless, especially this early in the morning. And that wasn't the only weird thing going on. Eren who had compulsively glanced up whenever the door to the mess hall was opened now continued to eat his breakfast like he hadn't heard anything and Mikasa sat down without so much as a glance in his direction. Armin's eyes darted between them. They had resolved their issues already so what was the matter? Did something happen?

"Eren, you okay?" Armin asked.

"M'fine," Eren said without looking up, sounding slightly constipated.

He turned to Mikasa to find her toying with the edges of her muffler, something which he hadn't seen her do since the first day they'd met, back when she had still been a little timid.

"Mikasa?"

"I-I'm alright," she mumbled, her voice slightly muffled as she ducked into the muffler.

And then he saw the fiery blushes that stained their cheeks. Now he was sure something was amiss. The tension between them was palpable. Something had definitely happened but he had no idea what it was and knowing them, they wouldn't tell him. Armin smiled to himself. He was smart and resourceful, particularly where these two were concerned. He would figure it out. All he had to do was get them talking and it would inevitably spill out.

"Hey guess what?" he said presently and the two of them looked at him, curious.

_So far so good_, he told himself, giving himself a mental pat on the back.

"According to Jean the instructor said we'll be building new dummies for the training sessions, seeing as the old lot are already damaged beyond repair," he continued. "Apparently he wants these new ones to be more lifelike than the others to give a more realistic experience. They'll be 3 dimensional and complete with hair and the nakedness and – "

Their reactions were instantaneous. Eren began to convulsively choke on the chunk of bread he had been eating while Mikasa splattered the hot tea she had been pouring. In a flash Eren had gotten to his feet and all but run out of the mess hall, and after a hurried apology Mikasa followed suit. Armin stared at the door after they had left, more bewildered than ever.

What _had_ happened between them?

* * *

To Mikasa, watching Eren was a second nature. It had started out as habit she cultivated to buffer his knack for getting into trouble and since Carla's death had blown out into a full scale job. Like a mother hen with its chicks, she always kept a watchful eye over Eren, no matter what she happened to be doing at the time. But now something was different. When she looked at him, she didn't just see the only family she had left and desperately wanted to protect.

She didn't just see the intrepid boy who had saved her from the traffickers and taught her to fight off the cruelty intrinsic to this world.

She didn't just see the stranger who had taken one look at a shivering girl whose world was crumbling around her and cared enough to impulsively whip off his muffler in the blistering cold and wrap it around her neck, a simple yet powerful gesture that had become to her a reminder of the warmth and beauty that still existed in this fallen world.

She didn't just see the feisty rambunctious youth who had dragged her and Armin along in his countless adventures and misadventures for over a year and in doing so showed her what it was to be alive and wanted at a time when she felt dead and alone.

She didn't just see the sullen young man who, driven almost over the brink of madness with grief over his mother's tragic death, had been sworn in to the impossible task of slaying all titans on earth and thereby unwittingly sealed her fate along with his.

Now she also saw Eren the man, same as the boy she had always known and yet different in ways that called out to parts of her she had barely even known existed and inexorably tied her to him like the red muffler he had once wrapped around her neck.

And just like that, a tear, an argument, an unexpected incident and a blush later, Eren Jeager had officially become 'more than' just family.

**A/N: I was a little unhappy about this chapter, mainly because I intended for it to be shorter and ended up with this…. I was also going for what I was hoping would be a humorous start to a humorous miniseries, but with that quasi-poetic end, I don't think that went well. What do you guys think?**

**Now to your reviews**

**Urgandma12: Thanks for your unwavering support! I really appreciate it. And the answer's Hell Yeah, it's gonna be 'long and long lasting' coz that's the only way I know how to roll *wink wink***

**And to RealmofDawn, Soul of the World, SrgntDrew, Shiina Yuki, Merl-Lie is a perpetual shipper, missstampede, Dragonball256, Doom Marine 54, DeadFlash27, sons Scar and Anon, thank you so much for your wonderful reviews! They urged me on!**

**And to all followers and those who made this story a favorite, thanks from the heart!**

**Finally to everyone who's read this, like my people would say, '**_**Me Lapter**_**' (pronounced as /mə laptə/) which means 'Thank You'!**

**I DARE you to figure out where _that_ comes from, hehe!**

**Do check out my other multichapter fic: 'For Freedom, for Family'. In the words of a PM I recieved about it, 'That shit's pure MikaEre gold!'**

**Adios! **


End file.
